Debug COM dll with .Net app in VS.Net

[Gary James]

I've inherited a COM dll project that was switched from the VS6 environment
to VS.Net. I thought I could debug the COM dll code by adding a VB.Net
project to the solution, but when I set breakpoints in the dll, the code in
the VB test program just passes over them. I'm guessing that it has
something to do with the VB project referencing the dll interop layer,
rather than the dll itself.

Is it possible to do what I'm trying to do? Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,

Gary ...

 

[Marcus Heege]

VS.NET has several debug engines for different purposes:
* unmanaged debugging
* managed debugging
* script (classic ASP) debugging
* ...

Your NET project by default uses the managed debugging engine. Therefore,
breakpoints in unmanaged code will not be hit.
You can change this via the debug project settings. If you choose mixed, the
managed and the unmanaged debugging engines will be started, however this is
very slow. If you choose native, you cannot set breakpoints in managed code,
but in unmanaged code. I usually prefer this option, since it is much
faster.

Marcus

 

[Gary James]

Marcus,

I tried your suggestion, and at first it didn't appear to work. But after
playing with it for a while, I found that it worked if I checked the
"Unmanaged Code Debugging" checkbox in the VB.Net project settings, and not
the "Debugger Type" setting in the COM dll project settings.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Gary James